RPG Maker WITH Sometimes Feels Like It’s Withholding

It’s difficult to access an RPG Maker game! It sort of feels like you can’t completely do so until you potentially make a few games that are multiple hours. Your affection (or dislike) for it only grows the more time you spend with it. Like I only knew how much I adored RPG Maker FES after I got halfway through a Neoromance-like original game I’d made. So while I spent about five hours working on a project on my Switch already, I still feel like I’m only scratching the surface with RPG Maker WITH. However, while it does feel like it could lead to interesting creations, I also feel like it isn’t exactly what I wanted from a new entry.

In games like RPG Maker WITH, you’re presented with the map making, asset designing, and editing tools necessary to create RPGs (or other types of games). So it ends up being a whole process, due to creating all maps for the world, towns, dungeons, and villages, developing the people and monsters who inhabit them with provided assets, crafting a story, working on balancing, and generally preparing everything. As with all other entries in the series, you start out with everything you need. There are pre-made sprites for it all. You select what you need and place it where it works best for you. You essentially lay everything out as needed. The interface allows you to quickly go through different areas.

The thing that struck me as I dabbled with it on the Switch is that there are basically two groups RPG Maker WITH is geared toward. One seems like it would be people who are completely new to the RPG Maker experience. This is because of the heavy reliance on included sample data and asset sharing. A big selling point of this installment is being able to work with other people on the same game. However, given the nature of these titles and this being a Switch-exclusive for the moment, I’m not entirely sure how well adopted it will be. So you might not find those other people assisting. 

But also, since RPG Maker WITH doesn’t offer any tutorials or insights, it is far from being an ideal introduction. Even the official website for the game isn’t much help, as the section directing you to guides sends you to an outside website instead of any official videos made by Gotcha Gotcha Games or NIS America. I’m incredibly familiar with the series and spent hours with RPG Maker FES, but found each editor has its nuances and works differently. So it even took me about an hour or two of experimentation to start working things out.

Which makes it feel like RPG Maker WITH is really for the other potential audience. That is, folks already experienced with the tool. While those of us used to things will easily jump into building up characters, designing maps, and organizing enemy encounters, there are parts that still feel like they place us in the weeds. A walkthrough for the Event Editor would have been absolutely appreciated. Even though it is mostly a common sense sort of feature and those familiar with past games will probably pick it up quickly, I found it a little intimidating to be faced with learning the new scripting feature again. 

As such, it feels like RPG Maker WITH isn’t as open and welcoming as it could be on the Switch, even though it is a fine and capable tool. Especially given the idea and concept of this being a more inclusive experience that encourages people to work together and there are so many sharing elements. You’d think the options for newcomers would be at least offer the option of a tutorial to walk you through at the very least the event editor portion. As for more advanced and experienced creators, I’m sure we’ll start to see some fun things show up over the next few months or even years. But then, since it is limited to the console, I do wonder and hope that its the case and people won’t just pick up RPG Maker MV or MZ for the PC instead.

RPG Maker WITH is available on the Nintendo Switch. It will come to the PS4 and PS5 in 2025.